he said he's instructed senator harry reid and senator mitch mcconnell to come up with a plan that can pass in congress. his brief comments a short while ago came after a white house meeting today with congressional leaders that ended with no deal. ahead of that, investors lost hope lawmakers can come together in the time remaining. in the last few minutes of trading, stocks sold off. the dow tumbled 158 points, the nasdaq lost 25, and the s&p fell over 15 points. here's darren gersh with more on the critical work that has to get done in washington this weekend. >> reporter: the president declared himself modestly optimistic congress could still reach an agreement to head off huge tax hikes on january first, but he also warned lawmakers to get their work done. >> the american people are not going to have patience with a self-inflicted wound on the economy. >> reporter: senate republican leader mitch mcconnell called the white house meeting a good one and he told his fellow republicans he hoped to have a fiscal cliff recommendation soon. >> we will be working hard to see if we can get t